Sorry to hear the stink bugs have made it out to you...they have been a problem here on the east coast for a while. If you catch them, the best thing to do is drown them in some soapy water. Not much is very effective on them because their legs are long...so contact stuff like de is not very effective. Insecticidal soaps can work if you can manage to saturate their soft underbelly well, but you really have to target them, not just spray n pray... Best thing to do is try to hunt down their eggs and kill them before they hatch...

In anticipation of a stink bug seige (which hasn't come, crossed fingers), I saved up a number of pizza boxes during the past year. My plan is to coat the insides of the boxes with something sticky like molasses, shake the bugs in there, then put the whole shebang in a black plastic garbage bag to cook in the sun.

After living with the marmorated stink bugs for a couple of years, I know they can be counted upon to drop when disturbed when conditions are cool.

A swarming pest more common farther south, striped blister beetles, also appear out of nowhere in large numbers. An old old remedy for blister beetle swarms is to cut pine or cedar boughs, and have two people working together sweep them off of peppers and into a shallow pit for collection. This also might be worth trying.

Do make sure these are not squash bugs, which do not have obvious light and dark bars on their antennae -- a field mark for the brown marmorated stink bugs. The easiest way to hand pick squash bugs is to spray the plants with water to get the bugs moving, then nab them and drown them in soapy water. I wear a glove and squish em. We all have squash bugs, it's just a question of how many.

Planatus, I think you are right, after doing some research, I now believe them to be squash bugs. Haven't dealt with these guys before either though. The biggest thing is that they are really focused on the zucchini and picklebush, although I found a straggler on my tomato cage. I snatched 4 of them this afternoon and drowned them in soapy water as suggested. They fly away pretty quick though, so not an easy task. I'm still baffled by the large numbers of cuke beetles, although I did a number on them yesterday with pyrethrin. Thanks for the tips so far!

Joe